Bernice Sawyer, 79, Former Mayor`s Mother

Mrs. Sawyer, a lifelong resident of Greensboro, Ala., was described by her family as a strong, principled woman. She had been living in Chicago with some of her children since May, when she came north to seek treatment in her battle with cancer.

According to Chicago resident Charles Sawyer, a younger brother of the former mayor, Mrs. Sawyer was a ``loving, kind, hard-working, sweet person.`` She saw her six children through college, despite her family`s relative poverty, and watched with pride as her oldest son, Eugene, became mayor of Chicago.

Mrs. Sawyer and her late husband, Gene, ``were very strong proponents of making sure children got educated properly, notwithstanding that they were not wealthy and just hard-working people,`` Charles Sawyer said.

He recalled that the children in the family started a peanut-growing business, at their parents` insistence, with ``the business being passed on to the next (sibling) when they turned 12 or 13.``

``We learned at an early age the value of working and saving money,`` he said.

Mrs. Sawyer, a high school graduate, worked until her retirement in 1972 as a dietician in the Greensboro school system. She was a member of the Sarah Christian Civic Club, the Negro Women club and Eastern Star.

She is survived by four sons, Eugene, John, Ernest and Charles; two daughters, Melnee Hill and Shirley Sawyer; a sister, Melnee Johnson; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Vernon Park Church of God, 9011 S. Stony Island Ave. Services will in Greensboro.